Undiscovered
by nikki-of-stormhold
Summary: Ben and Ian make a mysterious discovery in Egypt and it comes with romance for both of them.


**Undiscovered**

**This is a crossover in places with Tomb Raider. Just saw them together.**

Ian Howe gazed quietly at the huge, sandy coloured walls. The team had been in Egypt for two weeks, and they still hadn't managed to penetrate the temple. The Valley of the Kings was mostly excavated now, but they had stumbled across this temple by chance. It was different to all the others though, there seemed to be no way of getting beyond the walls surrounding it. It wasn't huge in size, which is why it had not yet been discovered. Ben's team were getting impatient now, and wanted to use dynamite to blow their way though the walls. Ben and Ian had discovered however, that the longest wall of the four held a strange mechanism that it seemed would allow them to enter. The problem was, neither of them knew how to operate it. Ian stared up at the dial like feature, racking his brains as to what to do. Ben joined him, sweating in the blistering heat.

"Ian, I have an idea," he said. He was panting heavily, having just run up the bank beneath the walls. Ian turned to face him, squinting in the sun.

"I hope it's better than the last one."

Ben nodded.

"Look, we've been out here two weeks and we're no further forward. Neither of us can work this out, and we can't destroy it."

"Ben, tell me this is going somewhere." Ian rolled up the sleeves of his white linen shirt and scooped the long blonde hair out of his eyes.

"It is. I say we call Croft."

There was a sort silence between the two men.

"Why her?" Ian asked quietly.

"Because regardless of past events, we both know she is the best there is where Egyptian cryptology is concerned."

Ian nodded. It was true. If anyone could solve this, Lara Croft could.

"I'll make the call," Ben said, relieved that they might finally be getting somewhere.

He disappeared down the bank, a mobile phone in his hand. Ian continued to stare up at the dials. The last time him and Lara had been in Egypt together, it had been as lovers.

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"Is that her?" Ian shouted over the noise of a hovering helicopter. The sand was blowing everywhere, and he and Ben covered their faces with their shirts.

"Well if its not someone else with a chopper is very eager to see us," Ben yelled back.

The helicopter landed, and the sand died down. Ben made his way towards it and opened the door. The pilot adjusted his controls, then jumped down and greeted Ben.

He was closely followed by a thin brunette. She wore her hair in braid down to her waist, and sunglasses concealed her eyes. As usual, she had two revolvers strapped to her waist and a small leather rucksack on her back. She jumped down and surveyed the desert surroundings. Then, noticing Ben, she removed her dark glasses and smiled.

"Mr Gates, nice to see you again," she said smoothly.

"And you Miss Croft. I wouldn't have called, but there wasn't anyone else I could think of with your expertise….I hope you don't mind too much."

Lara laughed.

"On the contrary my friend, I love a good challenge, especially if Egypt is involved." The two of them made their way over to the jeep. Ian sat in the drivers seat, studying a map. He looked up when they arrived.

"Lara," he said quietly.

"Ian," she replied.

Ben opened the door of the jeep and they both hopped in.

"So where is this temple of yours then? I thought the Valley of the Kings was exhausted."

Ben nodded.

"So did we, but we came across this by accident. It's not huge, but we can't get inside the bloody thing."

Lara looked up.

"That's where I come in."

Ian turned in his seat and handed Lara the map. He pointed to an area, circled in red marker.

"That's where we found it." Lara took the map and studied it.

"Hmmm. I've been to this area myself. I could swear it was clear."

Ian started up the jeep and looked at Lara in the mirror.

"I think you'll find that's where we excavated in 1997." He said.

There was a short silence. Lara kept her eyes on the map, but blushed a little. The jeep began to move over the sand, slowly at first. It wasn't long before they reached the site. Lara jumped out of the jeep without even opening the doors. She strode up the bank out of sight, carrying the map. Ben and Ian remained behind.

"Everything ok Ian?" Ben asked, studying his friend's face.

"Fine. Just weird seeing her here I guess."

"Yeah, I know. Just try not to think about it. If there had been anyone else…." Ben jumped down from the jeep.

"I know, we need her. We've worked too hard for this to throw it all away over things in the past." Ian jumped down too, and the two of them made their way up the bank after Lara. At the top, she stood with her hands on her hips, staring up at the longest walls. Ian took a deep breath and stepped forwards.

"We found these dials after hosing the wall down. They're on the longest wall, which seems to be significant as the others all have hieroglyphics which seem to be related- almost like instructions. Only we can't make them out, not even our specialists."

Lara smiled.

"Let me have a crack at the. Egypt and I get on well," she said, following Ian round to the second wall of the square. Ben followed a little way behind, deciding to give them space.

"There are four dials. The clues on the remaining three walls seem to match one each of the dials but the fourth one is a mystery." Ian stopped by the first set of ancient paintings.

"Hmm, I see what you mean." Lara studied them closely, scratching at them gently with a fingernail. She turned to face the sun and closed her eyes. Ian watched her intently, waiting for a reaction. She opened her eyes and kept very still, thinking.

"Show me the third set," she said.

"What about the second?" Ben said, joining them.

Ian knew Lara better than to argue and led her around the square to the third wall. Ben was quiet and followed. Lara stood for a long while, studying the third set of hieroglyphics. She looked at the sun again, this time with her sunglasses on. There was a short silence as more of the team gathered to watch.

"I think I know what this is." Lara turned to face them.

"You do?" Ben was mildly surprised. How could she know after ten minutes and they'd spent a fortnight on it?

"Yes, but I can't show you how to open it until tomorrow morning." She turned and started to walk down the bank.

"Why not?" Ian and Ben walked behind her.

"Well the instructions on the first wall describe the movement of the earth throughout the day, in relation to the sun. It must be in the correct place, which will occur tomorrow morning."

Ben was amazed.

"What about the third set? Why did you ask to see those?"

Lara stopped and turned to face the two men.

"The first ones also mention the fourth dial on the longest wall, but the third are exactly parallel in relation to the position of the sun. The light from the East will cast beams onto each wall, and the fourth dial is exactly parallel to the third wall if you look. The second is irrelevant."

Ian never stopped being amazed by this woman. What she said made sense, and it had taken her so little time to figure it out. He shook his head.

"She's right Ben. I see it now."

Ben nodded.

"So do I. But how come we didn't before?"

Lara smiled.

"Here Ben, you never know things until Egypt is ready to show them to you."

She put her sunglasses back on and turned towards the jeep.

"You must stay at the camp tonight, if we can't open this until the morning." Ben helped Lara into the jeep as once again Ian started the engine."

They started back towards the camp, each one of them renewed, their passion for discovery alight once more.

In the morning, their questions would be answered, and the past would be theirs once more.

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I plan for romance and discovery, but only if this is liked enough to be continued. Please review- you made it this far!


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